Protesters, including Rikia White (center) entered the McDonald's on Jackson Street in Oakland to urge workers to join them in calling for a $15-per-hour minimum wage for fast-food workers.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Protesters, including Rikia White (center) entered the McDonald's...

Image 2 of 12

A demonstrator dressed as Ronald McDonald joins the rally in Oakland on national protest day.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A demonstrator dressed as Ronald McDonald joins the rally in...

Image 3 of 12

Two men dressed as Ronald McDonald danced with others on the drive in side of the restaurant Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Two men dressed as Ronald McDonald danced with others on the drive...

Image 4 of 12

Protesters were united on the fact that minimum wage will not support anyone in the Bay Area Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Protesters were united on the fact that minimum wage will not...

Image 5 of 12

A young boy held up a protest sign inside the McDonalds Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A young boy held up a protest sign inside the McDonalds Thursday...

Image 6 of 12

Workers at McDonalds joined the protest on their behalf Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Workers at McDonalds joined the protest on their behalf Thursday...

Image 7 of 12

Marchers demanding at least a $15 an hour pay scale made their way to the McDonalds Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Marchers demanding at least a $15 an hour pay scale made their way...

Image 8 of 12

Protesters entered the Oakland, Calif restaurant and marched up to the counter Thursday December 5, 2013. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Protesters entered the Oakland, Calif restaurant and marched up to...

Image 9 of 12

Marta Garcia (center), a 15 year employee of McDonalds who says she still makes minimum wage, waved to her coworkers to walk out with the protesters Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Marta Garcia (center), a 15 year employee of McDonalds who says she...

Image 10 of 12

Marta Garcia (left) and other McDonalds workers urged their coworkers to join them with the protesters Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. Garcia says she has worked at McDonalds for 15 years and still makes minimum wage. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Marta Garcia (left) and other McDonalds workers urged their...

Image 11 of 12

McDonalds workers including Marta Garcia (right) and Rafael Ortega (left) watched as the protesters entered their restaurant Thursday December 5, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. On a day of national protest against the wages paid to fast food workers, dozens protested in front of a McDonalds on Jackson Street and entered the restaurant.

Since fast-food workers first began protesting for better pay earlier this year, they've been joined by everyone from President Obama to wealthy Silicon Valley conservative Ron Unz in calling for a higher minimum wage.

But little has changed in Elida Munoz's life in that time. The 37-year-old mother of two still work two fast-food jobs - one at Jack-in-the-Box in Oakland, the other at KFC in Emeryville. One shift runs from 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and the other begins at 8 p.m. and ends at 4:15 a.m.

The big change in her life is that now she's seven months pregnant, with little prospect that her pay will go up. In the nine years that she's worked as a cashier at Jack-in-the-Box, her wage has increased by only $1.40 an hour, to $9.40. She's worked at KFC for 17 years and makes $9 an hour, $1 above the state's minimum wage.

On Thursday, Munoz was among a couple of hundred activists, fast-food workers and union workers at a demonstration at a McDonald's near Lake Merritt in Oakland, calling for a $15-per-hour minimum wage. The boisterous but peaceful lunchtime demonstration was among 100 that fast-food workers and their supporters held around the country.

Munoz says she could use a few extra dollars in her pocket. Her 15-year-old daughter recently asked for a laptop and extra books for school, "but I had to tell her we have no money," she said.

Not enough

Even though Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation this fall to raise California's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, advocates say that's not enough.

An October study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center found that 52 percent of the families of fast-food workers are enrolled in one or more public assistance programs, compared with 25 percent of the workforce as a whole.

Cost to taxpayers

In California, researchers estimate that low-paid fast-food workers are costing taxpayers $717 million a year in state and federal assistance, according to the UC center's study, which was co-authored by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, is co-sponsoring a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from its current $7.25 and link it to cost-of-living increases. Obama has called for a similar move.

Initiative started

Unz, the primary sponsor of a 1998 English-only ballot measure that all but eliminated bilingual education in California, is gathering signatures for an initiative that would increase the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour in 2016. He argues that paying workers more will reduce their dependence on government aid.

But Steve Caldeira, president and CEO of the International Franchise Association, which represents fast-food restaurants among its 825,000 member businesses worldwide, said proponents of minimum wage hikes "ignore the fact that this policy will jeopardize opportunities for entry-level workers to gain the skills they need to move up the employment ladder.

"Such a drastic move will hurt the very people the policy was originally intended to help."